


Freshly Fallen Snow

by celestialskiff



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Fluff, Holding Hands, M/M, Slice of Life, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9066829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialskiff/pseuds/celestialskiff
Summary: It's Jake and Nog's fourth wedding anniversary. Jake has chosen their holiday destination.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jazzypizzaz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzypizzaz/gifts).



“I don't like it,” Nog said. 

“You haven't tried it yet.” Jake pulled his hat down over his ears. 

“Wrong. Four holodeck simulations in the academy; two away-missions, one diplomatic visit to Andor.” 

“That doesn't count.” Jake sounded infuriatingly reasonable. 

“And then I worked hard to ensure that I only went to planets with sensible weather,” Nog said. 

“Is the constant rain on Ferenginar something you consider sensible?” Jake asked. 

“I am perfectly adapted to it, and so is my favourite food,” Nog replied, thinking about the grubs that just didn't taste right if they were replicated or even live-shipped. 

“Snow isn't sensible,” Jake said. “I agree. But it is fun.” He was putting on his sunglasses now. 

Nog sighed. Jake looked suave and a little bit sexy, which wasn't fair, because no one should look good in a micro-fibre hat, enormous jacket and sunglasses. 

“I'll just stay here and watch you,” Nog said hopefully. The scarf Jake had made him wear was tickling his ears.

“We're just going for a walk in the forest,” Jake said. “It's not like I'm going to make you ski.” 

Nog shuddered: tying knives to your feet and then jumping off a cliff. There was something wrong with humans. There were many things wrong with humans. 

“There are supposed to be tame deer there,” Jake added, like it was an incentive. 

“The big brown things with all the teeth? I know children play with them, but they're not safe.” Nog sighed. “I read an article about it a couple of weeks ago. Humans think they're cute but the advertising is dangerously misleading.” 

Sometimes saving humans from themselves was a lot of work. 

“No, _deer_! Not bears. They're herbivores.” 

“Herbivores have big teeth,” Nog said. 

Jake sighed, as though he, Nog, was the one being unreasonable. “I won't let any cute herbivorous deer bite you. We'll just walk through the woods. It's beautiful out there. Where's your sense of adventure?” 

“I left it on Deep Space Nine,” Nog said. “Why couldn't we go to Risa for our anniversary, again?” 

“Because I get to choose every second year, and I chose Russia. You know this. You said you'd keep an open mind.” 

Nog nodded. He missed Risa. He wanted to swim in the sea and watch Jake flirt with pretty people who couldn't have him. Jake carefully straightened Nog's hat, which was made for human heads and the wrong shape, and then grabbed Nog's hand. Holding hands in gloves felt strange, their fingers bulky, but as they stepped out into the snow, Nog was glad of the tether. 

The air was the kind of cold that went right inside his sinuses and just settled there, as though it was going to freeze them solid and never leave. Jake was taking deep breaths. “Isn't beautiful? It's so quiet here. And the smell – how would you describe it?” 

“Cold,” Nog replied. He took a step forward. The ground moved under him – there had been a fresh fall of snow last night, which Jake claimed was a good thing – and the snow was piled thick, creaking under his feet. His balance felt uncertain. 

“Oh, look, the trees!” Jake let go of his hand, and went bounding towards the pine trees. Almost immediately, Jake began to skid, and then lost his footing entirely, his breath coming in a gasp as he landed on his backside. The snow rose up in a fine cloud all around him. 

“Are you OK? Try not to move!” Nog called, hurrying towards him. He found he was moving easily through the snow now, not skidding at all. Maybe it was because his centre of balance was lower. 

But when he got to Jake, Jake was sitting up and laughing, snow on his coat and hat and even in his eyebrows. The sun, very low in the sky, made the snow crystals shine brilliant red. Jake said, “It's so soft, it doesn't hurt at all.” 

Jake tried to get up, and floundered, falling back into the powdery snow, and laughing. He spread his arms out, gloved fingers buried in the white. “You should join me.” 

“Then who'll pull us up?” Nog said. “We'll never get out of the snow, and we'll have to roll back to the cabin.” 

“That sounds fun,” Jake said, but allowed himself to be helped onto his feet again. 

The forest was carefully cultivated by humans to appear wild, while remaining consistently easy to walk through. It was very still, and Nog could hear the vibrations of the snow compacted into the ground below, and the sounds of the tree roots, slumbering. It was very pretty in a human sort of way: bright snow and green branches, the pale sky, distant birdsong. Nog shivered. Jake floundered more than he did, but it was partly because of his enthusiasm: he kept dashing ahead to look at a particularly red berry, an icicle, or follow a set of animal foot prints. 

“It's so beautiful. It's so hard to write about beauty: everything you say sounds like a cliché, and nothing you write captures how wonderful it is to stand in the woods with someone you love after a fresh fall of snow. I couldn't even capture how beautiful that little cluster of moss looks caught in the frost...” 

Nog grabbed Jake's wrists to get his attention. “Jake?” he said. “Shut up.” 

Jake nodded. “You're probably right. I'll just get lost in existentialism.” 

Nog wished humans had money so he could charge a fee every time Jake used the word existentialism, or started talking about the fleeting quality of beauty. “Is that a deer?” he said instead. 

A red-brown creature was advancing towards them on impossibly spindly legs. It didn't look much like a teddy-bear, but Nog supposed human's habit of anthropomorphising bears might lead to some significant changes. He couldn't see any teeth, though, so maybe Jake was right. 

“I replicated some carrots,” Jake said happily, digging into his pocket. 

“You're going to encourage them?” Nog said, watching as Jake inched towards the deer, holding the carrot in front of himself. “And you're not even going to offer me a carrot?” 

The deer was staring at Jake with wide, liquid eyes. It flared its nostrils, and then stepped towards him. Nog could hear its quick breath. It took the carrot from Jake with its nimble lips. The crunch of teeth. 

Jake was smiling, obviously utterly charmed. He took a step closer and the deer, subject to an unnecessary prey instinct, spooked, and darted away into the forest. 

“Well, it didn't want to eat you,” Nog said. He leant against Jake's side, and Jake, still smiling, kissed his cheek. 

“You're freezing,” Jake said. 

“I'm all right.” 

“Do you hate it?”

Nog pulled away from Jake, looking into the forest. The snow gleamed beyond the line of pine trees. “Let's look for more deer.”


End file.
